My love of books drew me to the practice of writing; and poetry was and still is my primary craft. My first book of poetry was published by Hard Echo Press when I was 17. It was called A Ceiling for a Sky and on the cover were the doodles that I had scribbled in my notebook at the time. It is only now when I reflect back that those doodles and drawings have been part of my expression from the beginning.

My prose is poetic, I prefer that form of writing. I am influenced by Virginia Woolf with her sense of rhythm as the essential structure of her form. My interest in the esoteric arose through the way I experience the world, which led me to healing and teaching. From this rose the desire to articulate a language of understanding the world through the eyes of a mystic. That is the foundation of the book Into the World.

July 24, 2020

In Remembrance of Beethoven

July 24, 2020/ Leila Lees

In the culture of my family we began piano lessons and received our first watch on our 9th birthdays. It was so new and adult to translate time into words. Time, of course, had no meaning as one day flowed into another, and was measured by the sun and what we were allowed to eat.

My brothers and sister learnt the piano from Mrs White, who regularly shouted and rapped their hands with a ruler. In contrast, I would wander along past the river to Mrs Snodgrass’s house, I would be welcomed with fresh cakes just out of the oven and cups of tea. She read me books on Beethoven and we would listen to her records before remembering to play the piano. At which point she would warm my hands on a hot water bottle with a special knitted cover. At some stage she would suddenly become aghast at whatever time had vanished and drive me back to school, discussing beauty and music. I was always happily and innocently late for class. This was my introduction to Beethoven, anchored and safe to open my heart ears to his wild symphonies.

in response to Beethoven - drypoint

Leila Lees

BUY: Into the World by Leila Lees

Into the World arose from teaching a series of workshops that are working with the Lasavia Healing Essences as a foundation of learning. As insights and understandings came through I would write and receive and sometimes record myself working around subjects like power, belief patterns, the mind and how we learn.

cover image of piripai.JPG

Piripai is natural history as prose poetry. It is a story of place, time and a subtle coming of age on the sand dunes between the river and the sea. The book is structured around twenty-six birds that inhabited Piripai, and ordered according to the time of year, beginning in spring and ending in winter. It is suffused with observation and memory, conveyed in a stripped back style that both evokes and abstracts.

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